


Abandonment

by Merkwerkee



Series: Being Bruno Hamilton [25]
Category: Masters of the Metaverse
Genre: Whumptober 2019, during his time in the Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22855993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merkwerkee/pseuds/Merkwerkee
Summary: In war, brass makes the final call no matter the personal feelings on the subject
Series: Being Bruno Hamilton [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643020





	Abandonment

_“Sir, Sergeant Hamilton is here to see you.”_

_Colonel Thaddeus “Thunder” Jaxun pushed his sheaf of papers to the side and took a deep breath. This was one meeting he hadn’t been looking forward to, but could not, in good conscience, avoid. “Send him in.”_

———————————————————————————————————-

Sergeant Bruno Hamilton waited patiently as Jaxun’s assistant of the week - a Pfc. Ritter - went to announce his arrival to Jaxun. He hadn’t scheduled a meeting - he’d only just heard what happened, and had only waited long enough that he had the full story from Phantom. Krieger had looked entirely too delighted as he told Bruno that the squad to which Graves and Tunstall had been appended was a week overdue and considered officially MIA; Bruno, newly returned from his own mission, had resisted slugging the smug smirk off his face with difficulty and had marched off to see Jaxun immediately.

Ritter walked out of the inner office and gave Bruno the nod; Bruno nodded back before he crossed the outer office in a few swift strides and fetched up against the outer edge of Jaxun’s imposing desk. Jaxun looked up and stood, the wrinkles on his face deepening as he caught Bruno’s rigid posture.

Bruno snapped a salute, falling back on deeply ingrained habits to keep himself together at the deep pity lurking in Jaxun’s eyes. “Sir,” he said, holding the salute until Jaxun returned it.

It wasn’t wholly procedure, but Bruno forged ahead anyway. He had to know, had to hear it from the colonel himself. “Sir, I have been informed that Alpha squad 3-C is currently considered missing in action.” Requesting the status of another squad on assignment was technically a violation of mission security; Graves and Tunstall’s conditions were, strictly speaking, none of Bruno’s business while he wasn’t actively out on a mission with them. But Bruno had to know, dammit, and Jaxun was the best man to ask.

Jaxun sighed heavily and sat back down at his desk. “Yes, Hamilton, I’m afraid so. The whole of squad 3-C failed to make their rendezvous with the main arm of operations and was declared MIA as of 2200 last night.”

Bruno’s mind raced. “Sir, I request permission to lead a recovery mission. I -” He stopped, unable to continue that line of thought through the buzzing in his ears, and Jaxun looked at him with a weary sort of sadness.

“Permission denied, Hamilton.” Bruno opened his mouth to protest, but Jaxun held up a hand and he held his peace. “Hamilton, I don’t doubt your capabilities, but your talents are required here. Moreover, their last known location is overrun and we don’t have any intelligence where they might have been taken.” Jaxun stood again, and got as far as putting a hand on Bruno’s shoulder.

“Sir. Permission for three days of leave.” Bruno wasn’t about to give up now; he could do a lot in three days, especially with all the favors he had yet to cash in at the motor pool from a few poker nights early on in his tenure when the guys hadn’t yet learned that he had no tells and would bluff as stone-facedly with a royal flush in his hand as he would with nothing but a pair of sevens. If he could get transport and see if he could squeeze any more detail out of Phantom -

“Denied. I _need_ you here, Hamilton.” This time Jaxun was looking him right in the eyes, as if he could sense the track of Bruno’s thoughts. Bruno wanted to shift uncomfortably under that piercing gaze so full of sympathy that it cut to the quick, something he wouldn’t normally do even under torture, but he suppressed the urge ruthlessly. Any faltering now would put paid to any ideas he had about getting together a rescue for his missing teammates and friends.

“Sir, permission to speak freely.” It wasn’t a request Bruno made often or lightly. But this was Amos Fucking Graves and Jack Goddamn Tunstall; the former the bane of Bruno’s peace of mind and the latter the man who had asked him to stand as godfather to his future children when he finally got back to the states (after which the former promised to name his first kid after him. Even, he’d laughed, if the kid was a girl).

That wasn’t the kind of loyalty and friendship you repaid by sitting on your ass.

“Granted.” Jaxun’s eyebrows had gone up; apparently Bruno, of all people, asking to speak freely was something of a surprise to him.

“Sergeant Amos Graves and Captain Jack Tunstall are valuable assets to this unit, sir, and not trying to retrieve them is not an efficient use of resources.” Bruno’s mind was racing; he hadn’t actually expected to be granted permission to speak freely, so he had to come up with his argument on the fly. “Moreover, I am confident that, given three days and adequate transportation, I can retrieve both men with minimum use of resources. The overall efficiency of the unit would decrease in their absence, and their skills are an asset that would be hard to replace.” Words weren’t exactly Bruno’s strong point; when there were arguments to be made, he preferred to let his fists do the talking.

But that wouldn’t fly here, and all he could do was say his piece. Jaxun looked at him sorrowfully for a few long moments afterwards. “Ah hell. Hamilton, that was a long-ass speech. And you’re right, they will be missed; hell, I’m missing them already. But the long and the short of it is I can’t spare you. I was going to wait a day before giving you these orders, but there’s a major offensive set to go off before the end of the week. Your squad is going to be deployed ahead of the rest to soften the enemy line.”

Jaxun drew him over to the only other chair in the room and pushed Bruno into it; he sat woodenly, mind blank. “There’s just no time Hamilton; without your team - without you - things will go badly, and I can’t justify sending you on a mission that’s a wild goose chase at _best_ when a lot of lives are depending on you here.” He waited a few seconds as if expecting Bruno to say something, but Bruno’s mind refused to think of any. That Jaxun, a man who had once sent three squads through a minefield and gotten everyone out the other side safely, thought it was a wild goose chase…

“Tell you what, though,” Jaxun said suddenly, turning back to his desk to make a note. “I’ll see if Lexington can get any information, and when you get back, _if_ I have any actionable intelligence, you’ll be the first to know.”

He turned back and regarded the despondent form of Bruno with sympathy. “Hamilton, I’m truly sorry it has to be this way. But it’s all we can do, for them. For now. Dismissed.”

Bruno walked out silently; he had nothing left to say.


End file.
